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Dayton Dragons

Loons Rally in 9th to Top Dragons, 7-6

July 1, 2010 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Dayton, Ohio - Jaime Ortiz's two-run triple with two outs in the ninth inning brought the Great Lakes Loons back from a 6-5 deficit and lifted them to a 7-6 win over the Dayton Dragons on Thursday night before a crowd of 8,239 at Fifth Third Field. The Loons' ninth inning heroics spoiled a comeback effort by the Dragons, who had battled back from a 5-1 deficit to take the lead into the final inning.

Leading 6-5, Dragons reliever Pedro Villarreal struck out the first two batters in the ninth. But he allowed a singled to center to Nick Buss and then hit Angelo Songco with the first pitch to move the tying run to second. Villarreal fell behind Ortiz 2-0 before Ortiz lined the third pitch toward center field. Dayton's Ryan LaMarre tried to make a shoestring catch of the ball, but in his efforts to make the catch, he allowed the ball to skip past him and roll to the fence. Buss and Songco scored easily as Ortiz advanced to third and Great Lakes had the lead.

The Dragons were retired in order in the bottom of the ninth inning by Great Lakes reliever Steven Ames.

The Dragons came up short of what would have been their best comeback victory of the season. They trailed by four runs in the second inning against Great Lakes ace Elisaul Pimentel, who had allowed just one earned run in his last 35 innings. But the Dragons touched up Pimentel for five runs and eventually took the lead, thanks in large part to a huge offensive performance by first baseman Chris Richburg.

After Dayton scored in the first inning on a run-scoring double by Richburg, Great Lakes took advantage of two Dragons errors in the second to score five runs. The key hit in the inning was a two-out, three-run double to left by Ortiz that put Great Lakes ahead 5-1.

The Dragons started back in the bottom of the second when Mark Fleury doubled and scored on a single by Frank Pfister to make it 5-2. Then in the fourth, Richburg belted his 10th home run of the season, a solo shot to left, to make it 5-3.

In the sixth inning, Richburg drilled his second home run of the night and 11th of the year, a shot to left with two outs and the bases empty, to pull the Dragons to within a run. On the very next pitch, Cameron Satterwhite blasted a home run to left, his fifth of the season, to tie the game at 5-5. The Dragons back-to-back homers were their first since June 15, 2008 when Logan Parker and Denis Phipps hit long balls in consecutive at-bats at South Bend.

In the seventh, Dayton took the lead. Alex Oliveras singled with two outs, raced to third on a hit by Didi Gregorius, and scored on LaMarre's bouncer through the middle to give Dayton a 6-5 lead.

Dragons reliever Ezequiel Infante tossed three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, before being replaced entering the ninth inning.

Richburg became the second Dragons player this season to hit two home runs in the same game. Henry Rodriguez homered twice at Bowling Green on April 12th. Richburg had 10 total bases in the game including a double, just three bases short of the franchise record of 13. Richburg went 3 for 4 with two homers, a double, and three runs batted in.

Dragons starting pitcher J.C. Sulbaran worked the first five innings, allowing four hits and five runs (one earned) with three walks and seven strikeouts.

The Dragons (1-6) host the Loons (4-2) again Friday at Fifth Third Field. Jacob Johnson (4-4, 4.26) will start for Dayton against Josh Wall (3-4, 3.81). The game will be televised on WHIO Digital Channel 7.2 (Channel 23 on Time Warner Basic Cable). Reds Assistant Director of Media Relations Jamie Ramsey, author of the popular blog "Better Off Red," will serve as the guest commentator.

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